April 21, 2008 - most people don't remember anything about this date, but I will never forget it. This is the day I was told my seven year old daughter, Alex had Leukemia. I never dreamed my child could have become ill with cancer, and the shock, fear, and sadness were overwhelming. Alex was born on October 23, 2000 and had a very healthy childhood. She first started feeling bad this spring and when her blood-work levels became abnormal a bone marrow test was done which confirmed that Alex had cancer. On April 22, 2008 we were flown to Memphis to start immediate treatment at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The hospital and staff at St. Jude showed me something I had never seen before. They knew what they were doing and truly cared about us. They helped get us settled for a lengthy stay.

 

My son, Michael was always very outgoing – when he wasn't skateboarding, he was playing his guitar. He is in a Christian rock band. Our family had a very normal life until Michael's 16th birthday. My husband, David and I took Michael to his doctor after a bout with the stomach flu, but things soon turned to worse when we were told that Michael had a mass in his stomach, and that it was cancer. We were lost in our desperation, all of us, except Michael. "God is going to see me through this and I am not worried about it" Michael calmly told us. By the time we got to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Michael could hardly stand or take a few steps without being in a lot of pain. At St. Jude we found out that Michael had stage IV Rhabdomyosarcoma. He had a tumor between two of his vertebras in his spine, another large tumor in his stomach, and a few scattered under his lungs. There was cancer in Michael's blood and bone marrow. After six weeks of grueling treatment, Michael was finally released from the hospital and we were sent to live at Ronald McDonald House.

 

July 26, 2002 changed my life. You see something very strange happened to my family. My Mom was at the gas station and I was only 6 months old. A guy hit and ran my Mommy’s truck and she being the best Mom in the world took me to the doctor. They told my parents that I was okay from the accident, but my liver was enlarged with multiple tumors called Neuroblastoma in stage IV. So my Mom and Dad and I came to St. Jude. They took a lot of pictures and they started giving me “kemo” (chemotherapy) for six months. On my second week there I was sent to “The House That Love Built”. I had fun, it had pretty colors and my Mom says the only way I would stop crying sometimes was to go in Kitchen B and see all the colored hand prints. I am now six years old and I have stayed at the Ronald McDonald House seven times, staying no less than a month at a time.

 

Kira was born a healthy baby at 8 lbs. 3 oz. and 18 inches long on November 20th, 2005. Her father and older brother both have neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on various types of nerves inside and outside of the body, so we always knew Kira could be effected as well. Given that only 15% of NF1 patients develop tumors inside the body (mostly in the head region) and the ones on the skin usually don't develop until puberty, Kira was diagnosed by her genetic doctor by the number café-au-lait spots (light brown birthmarks seen in NF1) on her body. He recommended that we see an ophthalmologist to check her lymph nodules and to have a MRI of her head.

 

This ‘Family Story’ is a little different than all the others. It’s not even really a family story, unless you consider the friendship, camaraderie and true understanding between three teenage girls fighting a very similar fight almost like a real family’s bond. The resiliency of kids is miraculous and this couldn’t have been more apparent than when I got the chance to sit down for a chat with three girls, Hillary Husband, Kelli Silvester and Brittain McCoy, all of whom are staying at Ronald McDonald House of Memphis while they are fighting the battle against cancer at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

 

"Ronald McDonald House turned into our “home-away-from-home” and the staff was and still is our “family”. We had a nice comfortable place to sleep, shower and have some time alone if we needed it. We had a place to do our laundry and a kitchen to cook whatever we wanted to eat. The other families became our friends and their support, comfort and understanding carried us through the toughest moments. Will is such a personable little guy and people couldn’t help but gravitate to him so we met a lot of people because of him. And the simple joy of seeing Will happy in our “home-away-from-home” is irreplaceable. During our stay at Ronald McDonald House we had the pleasure to meet many groups that came in and volunteered their time to entertain the kids and the families. They helped get our minds off of what we are going through and having that ‘break’ from our troubles to laugh, eat, sing, play bingo or just socialize is a gift that we will always be grateful for."

 

-Resa (Will's Mom)

 

 

 

 

 

"Once we arrived at Ronald McDonald House we got the hope that we can be safe and that we don’t have to worry about finances, and the world around us that’s falling apart. We had the hope that we can stay and remain a family, together through this mess. Here we can be a family and that’s all that it takes. We can stay a unit. This is a wonderful place for our children. They get to play and do whatever children should be doing. They have made lots of new friends, enjoy being able to go outside and use the playgrounds, and parks. It’s just home. Cooper plays here like he’s not sick. Because even when he feels bad there is so much going on, he wants to be up and moving around. We’re okay and everything is going to be taken care of. We are loved and supported through this…from the volunteers to the staff to the people who keep this house clean. We’re all in this together."

 

- Wendy Jennings (Cooper's Mom)